More than 70 per cent of Arabs in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon believe that an American invasion of Iraq will increase “terrorist operations” and more than 15 per cent say there will be an attack on American forces “within days” of a US occupation, according to an opinion poll. The survey – conducted by a Lebanese company which questioned 1,100 respondents, more than half of them Egyptian – is the first of its kind in the Arab world, where dictators normally ensure that “public opinion” reflects their own view of the world. But the poll, by Information International of Beirut, was professionally conducted and shows the degree of Arab opposition to a war and of the disillusion with the United States. In Lebanon – where 241 American servicemen were killed in the suicide bombing of the US Marine headquarters in Beirut on 23 October 1983 – 81.5 per cent of the 400 respondents said a war would increase “terrorist operations”. The company’s director, Jawad Adra, said: “There’s always a link in the respondents’ mind with the Palestinian issue. They cannot isolate any issue from the bias which is detected in US policy on the Palestinians.” Full Story